FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES - Frontiers in Sustainability
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Frontiers in Sustainability FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES
Table of Contents
1. What is the Youth Earth Summit 3
1.1 Background for YES 2021 3
1.2 Theme for YES 2021 4
2. Objectives and Outcomes of the Day 5
2.1 Who Can Participate 5
2.2 Participant Information 5
2.3 Rules and Regulations 6
2.4 Winners and Prizes 6
3. Competition Details 7
3.1 Competition Date 7
3.2 Venue 7
3.3 Website for More Details 7
3.4 Registration 7
3.5 Last day to Register 7
3.6 Languages 7
3.7 Youth Earth Summit Day Plan* 7
3.8 Contact Details 7
4. Mentors 8
5. Partner Information - International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) 9
6. Youth Earth Summit Photo Collage from past years 11
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1. What is the Youth Earth Summit
YES! provides a platform for connectivity for high school and university students within the
UAE and experts from across the country to come together and discuss the importance of
conservation in the face of extreme threats to nature. Student teams prepare and submit
abstracts to discuss real-world environmental problems and their proposed solutions. Experts
from government and non-government agencies then judge their presentations based on
creativity, talent, innovation and real-world applicability of solutions proposed. What began
as a class assessment to engage freshmen students in hands-on experience thinking about
environmental issues, is now a successful inter-school summit that engages students in
healthy, positive dialogue on real environmental problems.
1.1 Background for YES 2021
The Youth Earth Summit has been run by the University of Wollongong in Dubai as a highly
successful occasional event since the first summit in 2014. Since its inception, the Youth Earth
Summit has aimed to promote and motivate students to engage in scientific research on
current environmental issues facing the UAE community today. In line with this tradition, the
Youth Earth Summit 2021 focuses on Innovations in Agriculture.
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1.2 Theme for YES 2021
This year, the summit will be held on 22 May 2021 which is the International Day for Biological
Diversity. Agriculture is responsible for 70-80% of global deforestation driven by conversion of
forests intro agriculture and tree plantations (for paper and wood). Forests are in turn habitat
for more than 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity so losing them is threatening our
biodiversity. We need smart agricultural solutions in order to restore our Earth and conserve
our forests and biodiversity.
In addition to the global challenges with agriculture, the UAE also faces specific challenges due
to the limited availability of freshwater and arable land. The World Bank shows that the UAE
imported 18.17 billion dollars of food products, vegetables and animals during 2018, this has
increased 21% from 5 years earlier. These food imports represent ~90% of food consumption
in the UAE. The UAE aspires to increase its domestic production of food during the coming
years, specifically through technology-driven solutions.
The decade from 2020 to 2030 has been identified by the UN as the “Decade of action” with
the aim of achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The second of these goals is
Zero Hunger and is intertwined with the improvement of food security encompassing food
affordability, availability, quality & safety.
Global land use for Food Production
Figure 1 Global land use and
Food Production (Data from
the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation, based on
4 OurWorldinData.org)
2. Objectives and Outcomes of the Day
The intention of the Youth Earth Summit 2021 is to consider the issues mentioned in Section
4.1 and identify potential innovative approaches to address one or more of the food security
issues (highlighted above) in relation to the UAE.
Projects submitted could propose solutions for any challenge faced across the food value chain
including producers of agricultural inputs, growers, processors, retailers, and consumers. You
could look at smart innovations which increase agricultural output, or at ways of ensuring more
crops reach a market, or of ensuring that the crops that get to market are of high value, you
could look at how innovations in Agriculture can have the most benefit to the end consumer.
2.1 Who Can Participate
This event is aimed at high school and university students within the UAE and it will be conducted
in the form of a conference. Schools and Universities will be invited to submit a Statement of
Problem (SOP) before the 8th of May. These will be reviewed for relevance to the question
proposed in the background above. Those that are considered innovative and relevant will be
invited to present during the summit.
Prior to the summit, the SOPs/ abstracts will be circulated amongst attendees. On the day of
the event, these groups will give a professional virtual presentation on their project, on which
they will be judged by their peers and by a panel of experts.
Groups who are unable to make a submission would still be welcome to register and virtually
attend the summit to listen to the innovative ideas which are presented. Attendees will be able
to vote for the presentation they like the best. Following the presentations, the judges will
identify the top three posters who will win awards for their work.
2.2 Participant Information
All participants will receive a virtual welcome pack after they register and confirm their
attendance.
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All participants will receive e-Certificates of Participation that will be emailed to their respective
school faculty representatives max 2-3 weeks after the event.
2.3 Rules and Regulations
1. The competition will be between groups with 4-5 members and one mentor.
2. Each school should register the participants under the school banner
3. Each school should register a Faculty representative (hereby to be referred as Mentor) to
supervise the participants
4. Each school can register as many teams as it wishes, with up to FIVE (5) students per team.
5. Each team must have a different mentor
6. Registration is first come, first serve basis.
7. Registration is free, but submission of a registration form is required
8. Once registered, student and/or mentor names can NOT be changed.
9. Schools are solely responsible for ensuring the spellings of the participating student/
mentor names are CORRECT on the forms and readable. We regret we will NOT be able to
reprint ANY certificates/e- Certificates once they have been issued.
10. Participants who have not registered their attendance prior to the event date will not be
allowed to attend.
11. Any participant attempting to disrupt the contest environment in any way will be
disqualified.
12. Any teams copying ideas or content without due acknowledgement will be disqualified.
13. Participants requiring any kind of assistance will be expected to reach out to the organizers.
14. Winners will be declared based on the decision of the Judges Committee.
15. Committees’ decisions are final.
2.4 Winners and Prizes
The winners, runners-up and second runners-up will be awarded:
• e-Certificates of Achievement
• Free visit and activities at ICBA: Tour of the Emirates Soil Museum and ICBA field
experiments, planting of native tree, cooking class using special salt tolerant species
“Halophytic Kitchen Lab”, lunch
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3. Competition Details
3.1 Competition Date
Saturday, 22 May 2021
3.2 Venue
Webex Virtual Platform
3.3 Website for More Details
www.uowdubai.ac.ae/envirotalk
3.4 Registration
Start date – 10 March 2021
3.5 Last day to Register
If you wish to enter the competition, the last day to register and submit your Statement of
Problem is 8 May 2021.
If you wish to attend, the last day to register is 19 May 2021
3.6 Languages
The competition will be held in English
3.7 Youth Earth Summit Day Plan*
• 8:30am – 9:00am Registration, Virtual Tour of UOWD Campus and facilities
• 9:00am – 10:00am Welcome Address, Keynote Speech, Rules and Procedures
• 10:00am – 1:00pm Competition Presentations
• 1:00pm – 2:00pm Break
• 2:00pm Closing Address and Prize-giving Ceremony
Schedules are subject to change without notice.
3.8 Contact Details
Youth Earth Summit Team | Email : envirotalk@uowdubai.ac.ae
74. Mentors
• Mentors are expected to be chosen by the respective schools in order to supervise and
mentor students
• Mentors are solely responsible for their participants, particularly on the day of the
competition
• Mentors are expected to support their participants for the competition
• Mentors have to remain online for the entire duration of the competition and supervise
their participants virtually
At the end of the competition, each Mentor will receive a Thank You pack that will contain:
• e-Certificates of Participation for their students and e-Certificates of Appreciation for
Mentors
85. Partner Information - International
Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)
9VISION
Sustainable livelihoods and food
security in marginal environments
MISSION
To work in partnership to deliver agricultural and water scarcity solutions in
marginal environments
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
Promote Advance
Provide
sustainable Enhance sustainable
climate
management agricultural food, feed &
change
of natural value chains biofuel agri-
solutions
resources technologies
For the Youth Earth Summit 2021 the University of Wollongong is partnering with The
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) which is co-organizing this event.
ICBA is a not-for-profit applied agricultural research center with a unique focus on marginal
environments where an estimated 1.7 billion people live. It identifies, tests, and introduces
resource-efficient, climate-smart crops and technologies that are best suited to different
regions affected by salinity, water scarcity and drought.
Since its formation in 1999, the center has implemented programs in over 30 countries in
Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, South Caucasus, and sub-Saharan
Africa. ICBA has also expanded its network of partners around the world to increase the reach
and impact of its programs. It has partners in more than 50 countries, enabling it to leverage a
vast and diverse pool of expertise to achieve a greater impact on the ground.
It is a founding member of the Association of International Research and Development Centers
for Agriculture (AIRCA), a nine-strong alliance focused on increasing global food security by
supporting smallholder agriculture within healthy, sustainable, and climate-smart landscapes.
Through its work, ICBA helps to create jobs and improve food security and nutrition for some of
the poorest rural communities around the world. For more information, visit: www.biosaline.org
106. Youth Earth Summit Photo
Collage from past years
11© University of Wollongong in Dubai. Dubai Knowledge Park. Dubai. UAE PO Box 20183. Tel: 800 UOWD. Website: www.uowdubai.ac.ae
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